Art message hammered home

Boris Johnson was at Bonhams last night to open its new HQ in New Bond Street. He excitedly noted that the auction house is based above Platform 1 of the Crossrail line before waxing lyrical about the art market. “In the last few months we’ve achieved record prices,” he said. “Someone paid £6.2 million for a blue diamond, when you can get an identical one from Accessorize. And someone paid £22 million for a 1955 Mercedes, the kind my grandfather used to drive.”

Despite his mockery, he saw the value of lucrative art sales. “Bonhams is like some humanitarian relief mission helping those who have too much money.”